Sharing & Permissions
Google Drive's cloud based file storage is a really powerful tool for collaboration. Knowing how to share and provide the correct permissions to your files is extremely important; you wouldn't want the incorrect person to have edit rights to some of your most important files! Read below to learn how to properly share and alter permissions to your files.
Sharing Files & Folders from Google Drive
Click on the folder or file you wish to share, right click and select Share.
You could also single click the document and then click the share icon at the top of the folder.
2. Once the Share dialogue window pops up, you have two options. One is to share directly with people and groups and the other is to copy a shareable link.
Enter the email address or name of the person with whom you wish to share the file or folder. Once the user is selected, you can set their specific rights for that user: Editor, Commenter, or Viewer. See below for more details on these rights.
Folder & File Permissions
Editor
An editor can be enabled to have full read and write access for collaboration. Generally, they will be able to overwrite and/or delete files and folders they have access to.
Commenter
A commenter cannot change the content of the document or folder, but can make suggestions through the comment feature.
Viewer
A viewer can only access your file as view only and will not be able to make any changes to your document or contribute content to your folder.
In the default settings they will be able to download a copy for themselves and edit their own copy if they choose.
If you want to change the default permissions for editors or viewers. Click the gear icon to access the permissions settings for this share mode. As the owner of the document you can dictate if the editors can have authority over permissions or not. You can also enable or prevent those marked as viewers only from downloading, printing, or copying your document.
Adjusting Permissions to a Shared Link
The second option when you click to share is to get a shareable link. This can be more convenient as you can share via your preferred communication platform, such as a direct instant message. However, having a shared link has a greater potential to be re-shared to someone you didn’t initially invite.
Fortunately, the default option is set to restricted, which only allows people who already have access to the file to use the link. That means you will have either had to previously shared the file or the containing folder with them, or they will have to request permission to access after clicking the link.
You can change the restricted permissions.
First, click the word restricted to expand on this option.
Then, click the drop down to change the permission to Anyone with this link. This will allow people with the link to access the file as a viewer.
To grant commenter or editor status via the link, click the drop down menu on the right of the permissions selection.
Revoking Access
If you find in the future you want to revoke someone’s access or change their permissions, you can do so from the same share dialogue box.
Click the drop down next to their name. You will see the option to change their permission status as before, but also will see the option to remove them. Clicking this option disallows them from accessing the document in any capacity.
If you shared via a link, you can change the restrictions as you did before. If any anonymous users are currently in the document, they will be removed. Any users not in the list of shared Gmail users will no longer be able to use the link sent to them.
